ENT07 An Ounce of Patience
by A Rhea King
Summary: While she can't explain why, she is desperate to convince Archer they are aliens on a planet she and Travis crash landed on. When he refuses to listen, changes the aliens made to the Ensigns force them to take over Enterprise
1. Chapter 1

AN OUNCE OF PATIENCE

By A. Rhea King

**CHAPTER 1**

The planet was an amazing sight. Unlike other planets, this one spun vertically on its axis at twice the speed of a normal planet. From space it looked like a gas planet with bands of orange and yellow-orange clouds banding around it. The discovery of the planet would have been cause for weeks of study if Shuttle Pod Two's homing signal weren't coming from the planet.

"Can you get a fix on the signal? What hemisphere is it in?" Archer asked T'Pol.

"I am having difficulty keeping track of the signal due to the speed of the planet's rotation," she answered.

"What about biosigns?" Archer looked away from the view screen to T'Pol. "Human or otherwise?"

"I'm picking massive amounts of bio-signs, but I can't distinguish if any of them are human."

"Try hailing them, Ensign," Archer said, walking over to the railing around the communication station.

The crewman sitting in Hoshi's seat tried and shook his head. "No response, sir."

Archer turned back to T'Pol. "Have the probes sent back any data on the atmosphere."

T'Pol turned to another monitor. She looked back at Archer. "The probes never made it into the atmosphere, Captain. One ricocheted off the atmosphere and is going into deep space; the other two aren't emitting any readings. It's safe to assume they were destroyed before they made it past the top of the ionosphere."

"Do you have _any_ idea what the atmosphere is like?"

"No, Captain. Nothing that I can confirm."

"Maybe once we're in the atmosphere we could pinpoint where the shuttle pod went down. Trip, can we get a shuttle pod into the atmosphere without killing ourselves?" Archer looked across the bridge at Trip.

"In theory, if we went at top speed, but we'd have to slow down as soon as we entered the atmosphere or we'd crash. Getting out of the atmosphere is going to be trickier. The gravity on that planet has to be double or more what it is on Earth. It's going to take some fancy flying. Cap'n."

"I can do the fancy flying. T'Pol, you have the bridge. Trip, you're with me." Archer walked over to the lift.

Trip trotted across the bridge and stepped on the lift beside Archer.

The door closed and Archer shook his head. "Why did I think Hoshi was ready to command a mission alone? What the hell was I thinking?"

"Cap'n, you heard the mayday message too," Trip said. "They were fired on. This could have happened to you or me or anyone one of us. Hoshi has plenty of experience to command a science expedition and you know it."

Archer shook his head.

"Cap'n, you, me and T'Pol all agreed to send her and Travis to collect data on the nebula. This isn't your fault. It's no one's fault except the aliens that fired on 'em."

Archer didn't comment.

#

Travis heard someone calling his name. He opened his eyes to slits and closed them against the bright light that flooded them.

"Travis," Hoshi's voice said.

Travis opened his eyes all the way, staring at the aliens standing around him. They were short and stout, with an orbicular shaped head and cob noses. Their eyes were squinty in proportion to their faces, but in actuality, they were large, bright eyes as black as a starless night. They wore simple clothing and many had tufts of hair sticking up from the tops of their heads like spouts of water. They had little ears with slightly protruding cartilage to set them apart from the skull. Their lips were bulgy and irregular shaped. They all had burnt brown skin, but some had grainy textured skin, while others were nothing but worn wrinkles. Beyond them he saw hundreds of tents and more aliens. Travis sat up and they all made a sound like a chorus of tenors tuning up before a song. Travis started when he felt something on his shoulder, spinning around into a crouch. Hoshi held up her hands.

"It's me. It's just me," she said.

Travis looked at the aliens around them. "Wha--"

Hoshi smiled. "You've been out for a few days. The aliens have been brining us food and water." Hoshi motioned to bowls and water skins sitting on the ground.

Travis got to his feet, letting Hoshi help him. He turned and saw the shuttle pod in the distance, still burning with smoke pouring out of it. The land around them was a steppe with thin, pinnacle plateaus that rose hundreds of meters. There was a considerable difference in gravity and it made Travis feel like he had bench weights tied all over his body. Above them the sky was crimson, streaked with orange and yellow-orange clouds that looked more like paint smears than clouds.

"The shuttle pod's gone?" Travis asked Hoshi.

"Yeah. They must have pulled us out because when I woke up it engulfed in flames."

Travis looked down at the aliens around him. He noticed that several of them were carrying what looked like musical instruments. One walked up to Travis, holding his hand up. His hand was thick with three sausage fingers on it -- a thumb and two fingers. The palm was light colored and smooth. There was a small opening on his wrist and from the opening there was a thin bulge that tapered off half way down the arm. The alien made a sound like singing.

"That's their language," Hoshi said. "It's fascinating, but I can't make heads or tails of it."

Humans and aliens looked up when a shuttle pod flew overhead. It circled over the shuttle pod and then came back their direction. It flew past again and sat down several meters from them. Travis looked down, finding all the aliens and tents gone.

"Hoshi, they're all gone."

Hoshi looked down. There wasn't a single alien in sight. She looked back at the shuttle pod, seeing the hatch opening.

"Come on," Hoshi said, leading the way.

Travis followed her. Archer and Trip walked out of the shuttle pod, looking relieved.

"I saw that shuttle pod and I thought I'd lost my two best crewmen," Archer told them.

Hoshi smiled. "We're tough, sir."

"It's good to see you two got away from there before it blew." Trip looked back at the shuttle pod. "What happened, Travis?"

"The engine overheated on entry. I was too shallow," Travis explained. "I lost aft control and then port. It was a rough landing."

"We were almost too shallow. Getting out of here ought to be fun," Archer said.

"Are we leaving right away?" Hoshi asked.

"That was the plan."

"Can't we stay for a little bit, sir?"

Archer looked down at her. "Why?"

"There are hundreds of aliens here, sir. I'd really like to see if I can communicate with them. Their language is amazing. It sounds like singing."

Archer looked around him. "I don't see any aliens, Hoshi." Archer looked at her. "Are you sure you saw them?"

"I saw them too, sir," Travis told Archer.

"That doesn't mean much. I've been under the influence of stuff on other planets that made me see things," Trip reminded them.

Hoshi looked around her and then back at them. "No offense, Commander, but _what_ could cause that here? There's nothing but sagebrush and plateaus."

"We need to get back. It was hard enough getting down here."

"Enterprise will still be there in a couple days, Captain. Please, just a couple of days. Their language is beautiful. I think they were just scared off by the shuttle pod landing. They don't look very advanced."

"Hoshi, you made a good point that there's only sagebrush and plateaus. The nearest plateau looks to be a half-kilometer away, and hardly wide enough for a hundred or so aliens to hide behind. If there were aliens here when we landed, where are they now?"

Hoshi frowned. Both of her commanding officers were making very good and logical arguments that she couldn't rebuttal. She looked down.

"Let's go," Archer said.

The men started back, but Hoshi stared back where the aliens had been.

"Hoshi," Archer said.

Hoshi looked at him. "They were just here, sir. I swear to you they were. We really should stay."

Archer smiled. He laid his hand on her shoulder, gently guiding her into the shuttle pod. Hoshi sat down on a bench, staring at the floor. Archer shut the hatch behind him and sat down in the front seat. He initiated the engine and lifted off, working to gain enough speed for escape velocity from the planet's gravity. With a sonic boom, the shuttle pod shot through the atmosphere.

The city of tents and the aliens 'shimmered' back into view, the aliens watching where the shuttle pod had disappeared. They turned to each other, their song-like language rising from tenor to alto.

#

The shuttle pod cleared the atmosphere and turned back toward _Enterprise_. Archer reached forward to open a COM channel, but it beeped before he could press it. He tapped the controls.

"Go ahead," he said.

"Were you unable to locate the crewman, Captain?" T'Pol asked.

"We found them. Lost a shuttle pod, though."

"How did you find them so quickly? I thought you'd have to search more."

"We did. We searched for almost ten hours."

"You've only been gone for thirty minutes."

Archer looked back at the three. "By our clock, it's been ten hours, T'Pol."

"We can discuss it when you return. Enterprise out."

Archer smiled. He had no doubt she would.

#

Archer stopped talking, watching Hoshi walk around the corner and joined Trip and T'Pol. She smiled.

"Did Phlox clear you?"

"Yes. I was tired, but nothing else. Travis had a sprang wrist and was dehydrated."

"Alright." Archer smiled at her. "It's good to have you back."

Hoshi offered a weak smile in return.

"So what you're saying, T'Pol, is that this planet is in the future?" Archer asked, looking down at the situation monitor. It displayed a three-dimensional representation of the planet.

"I'm saying it's spinning so fast that time on the planet is sped up. This is an extraordinary phenomenon. I would like to stay for a couple more days to study this planet in greater detail, Captain."

"But you said you can't study it _because_ it spins so fast," Archer said.

"With the data collected from the shuttle pod's sensors, I've been able to make adjustments to the probes. I believe I can get them into the atmosphere."

"Will you be able to find out more about the aliens on the planet?" Hoshi asked.

Archer and Trip looked at each other. T'Pol looked intrigued.

"What aliens are you referring to, Ensign?" she asked Hoshi.

"There are aliens down there. They're about this high." Hoshi held her hand up at the top of her thigh, just below her hip. "They looked like little dolls, with these round noses. They pulled Travis and I out of the shuttle pod before it exploded."

T'Pol looked at Archer. "There were aliens on the surface and you did not stay?"

"They weren't there when we were," Archer said. "It's possible Hoshi and Travis imagined them."

"From what you've described of the surface, I find that easy to believe. It sounds as though the surface was extremely hostile."

"Yeah. We thought that too," Trip said.

"I _swear_ they exist!" Hoshi argued.

Archer frowned, sighing. "Hoshi, I want to believe--I really do--but neither Trip nor I saw any aliens."

Hoshi frowned, looking down at the monitor. Archer glanced at Trip. Trip shrugged his eyebrows.

"Perhaps, once I get the probes into the atmosphere, we can clear up this controversy," T'Pol said.

Hoshi didn't comment, so Archer decided to let it alone.

"Report any findings to all three of us," Archer said.

"Yes, Captain."

"Dismissed. Hoshi, can I see you in my ready room?" Archer said, walking around to his ready room door.

Hoshi followed him into his room, watching him sit down at his desk. He looked up at her.

"Do you know who the aliens were that attacked you?"

She shook her head. "I was in the back monitoring sensory readings when they fired on us. I got to navigation and weapons just as we lost all sensors."

"Why did they leave you two alone?"

"They crippled us. That isn't necessarily leaving us alone."

"No. Not really. Hoshi, about the aliens on the planet--"

"With all due respect, sir, if you aren't going to believe me, then there's not point in discussing it further. I know what I saw and felt and heard. I was on that planet for eight days and they gave me food and water."

"You were only missing for a day and a half, Ensign."

"And you were searching for us for ten hours, yet it was only thirty minutes on Enterprise."

Archer smiled. "I stand corrected on _that_. We'll see what the probes turn up."

Hoshi didn't reply. Archer's smile dropped.

"That'll be all. You're dismissed," Archer told her.

Hoshi turned and left. Archer let out a soft sigh.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Archer sat down in the captain's chair. "Are we ready?" Archer looked at T'Pol.

"Yes, Captain. The probes that are in place will continue transmitting data."

"All right." Archer glanced at Hoshi. She didn't look at him. He could tell she was working hard to mask her anger. "Travis, set a cour--"

"All the probes are malfunctioning," T'Pol said, looking over her controls.

Archer looked at her. "What?"

"The probes have stopped transmitting data." T'Pol worked her controls. "I'm not detecting their sub-warp signature."

"Captain, believe me now?" Hoshi asked.

Archer looked at her. One of the aliens was standing next to Hoshi. Another one was standing next to Travis. They spoke and it sounded like opera singers tuning up.

"What are they saying, Hoshi?"

Hoshi turned to her controls, working on it for a few minutes.

She turned to Archer. "The translator is only hearing music, sir, and I can't translate it."

"T'Pol, do you have any music background?"

"No."

Archer tapped the companel on his chair. "Archer to Trip."

"Go ahead, Cap'n."

"Can you read music?"

"A bit, why?"

"Report to the bridge immediately."

"On my way."

Archer rose to his feet, watching the aliens move around so the were standing close to the two crewmen. Their song rose several octaves. The lift door opened and Trip walked off, stopping short when he saw the aliens.

"What in the hell are those?"

"They're the aliens from the planet," Hoshi said, smiling. "I told you so."

"What are they singing?"

"I was hoping you could tell us," Archer said.

Trip listened to the song for a couple minutes. "It sounds like random notes. There doesn't appear to be any pattern. T'Pol, there should be a program on the mainframe for composing songs. See if between that program and the translator it can analyze it to make a pattern."

T'Pol did as he said. "The computer is indicating that a translation, if there is any, will take five days. That's just from the few seconds of song it's captured. The music the composing program is capturing is very complex."

Trip walked around, looking at it. He whistled and the song suddenly stopped. Trip looked up. The aliens were staring at him.

"Does that mean I should or shouldn't whistle again?" Trip asked Archer.

"I don't know."

Trip's lips rounded to whistle again. Suddenly the song resumed and the alien's attention was on Hoshi and Travis again.

"Don't whistle, Commander," T'Pol ordered.

"You think I offended them?"

"I don't know, but it showed up in the music." T'Pol pointed at the screen.

The aliens stopped singing and stared at the two crewmen. As one they reached up toward the crewmen's neck. Before the crewmen could move a spike shot from their wrist and punctured the crewmen's neck into the jugular and then retracted. The prick was the size of pin, only causing a dribble of blood to escape. But whatever they injected into the two caused them both to pass out. Archer reached for the one closest to him. The alien looked at Archer, sung a short note and then shimmered away. The second alien followed without a sound.

Trip tapped a companel near him. "Trip to Sickbay."

"Go ahead," Phlox said.

"Report to the bridge. We have injured." Trip ran over to Hoshi, checking for a pulse. "She's alive."

Archer had crouched down beside Travis and did the same. "So is he. T'Pol, try to decipher that song."

#

"They're asleep," Phlox said.

Archer looked at Phlox. "Asleep?"

"It's a deep sleep, but other than that, there isn't anything else wrong with them." Phlox looked up from his scanner to Hoshi's face. He turned to Archer beside him. "And there doesn't appear to be any chemicals in their blood. I don't know what the aliens injected them with." Phlox looked down at the small puncture wound on Hoshi's neck. "But if they did inject anything, it isn't showing up on scans, which means it isn't harmful. I will run more tests to make sure it's not something I've missed, but so far there doesn't appear to be anything else wrong with them."

Archer looked at Hoshi and then Travis' faces. "At least that explains why they look peaceful," Archer joked.

Phlox smiled, walking around Archer to a monitor over Travis.

"When are they going to wake up?" Archer asked.

"That's hard to say, since I don't know why they're asleep in the first place. But if they don't wake on their own by morning, I'll wake them."

"Let me know if their condition changes."

"I will, Captain.

Archer walked out of Sickbay.

#

Hoshi read the report on her PADD as she ate oatmeal. She heard someone sit down to her right.

"Good morning, Hoshi," Travis greeted.

"Morning."

"Good morning you two," Trip said as he sat down with them.

"Good morning, sir," the two said.

"How ya feeling Travis?" Trip asked.

"Tired. I keep having really bizarre dreams."

"Bizarre how?"

"I keep dreaming of the planet, but it's lit up with bright colors. And I hear those aliens singing somewhere but I can't find them no matter how hard I search for them. I feel like they're calling out to me."

Hoshi froze with a bite of her oatmeal halfway to her lips. She looked up at Travis.

"I'm having that same dream."

Travis looked at her. "You are?"

Hoshi nodded.

"Phlox said that whatever those things injected you two with may have some side effects," Trip said.

"Dreaming the same dream is a side effect?" Hoshi asked.

"Or that you two have both been to the same planet, seen the same terrain, heard these aliens sing. The stuff they injected you with could just be a catalyst."

"How often do two people see the same thing when they dream?" Hoshi asked.

Trip's eyes narrowed. "Nice to have you back, Hoshi."

"I'm just asking, sir."

Trip smiled, looking down at his plate. "Whatever the reason, you two are both back on duty, so you'd better--" Trip looked up, stopping what he was saying.

Hoshi and Travis were both asleep, still sitting in their chairs. Trip looked at the crewmen around him.

"Hey, Eddy," Trip said to the crewman closest to a companel. "Get Phlox up here."

The crewman obeyed.

#

The singing had changed. The sense of urgency in it felt stronger, but she had been walking for what felt like days across the barren land without any luck in finding the singers.

"Ensign," Archer said.

Hoshi stopped and turned. She didn't see anyone so she turned back to follow the singing.

"Ensign Sato, wake up."

Hoshi started to turn her head...

#

Hoshi woke with a gasp, sitting up in her chair and accidentally flinging a spoonful of oatmeal on Doctor Phlox beside her, making him frown, but not move his scanner away from her. She didn't notice the accident. She was confused and dazed, trying to figure out where she was and why. She looked at Archer, watching him crouch beside her.

"What happened?" Hoshi asked.

"You and Ensign Mayweather, fell asleep. Trip said one minute you two were talking to him and the next, you two were out like lights."

"That's impossible. I never fall asleep in chairs," Hoshi protested.

Phlox lowered his scanner. "I can't find anything wrong with her," He told Archer. "Scans of both Ensign Sato and Ensign Mayweather do not show anything out of the ordinary."

"That's impossible. They just fell asleep eating breakfast."

"I'm aware of that, Captain, but I can't treat an illness that I can't detect."

Archer stood, looking at Travis for a moment. "Travis?"

"Sir?" Travis looked up at him.

"Do you feel like you can work?"

"Yes, sir. I feel like I've just had a good night's sleep."

"Hoshi?" Archer looked back at her.

"I feel fine, sir. Just a little confused about what happened."

Archer thought for a moment. "Phlox, I want you to do another scan and run as many tests as you know. Those aliens did something to these two and I want you to find out what."

"I'll do what I can, but again, if I can't detect an illness or pathogen, I can't treat it."

"Look anyway."

"If you two will come with me."

Hoshi stood up, facing Archer. "Sir, I'm sorry for all of this."

Archer's brow furrowed. "Sorry for all of what?"

"Everything."

Archer laid his hand on her shoulder. "Hoshi, you didn't do anything wrong."

Hoshi didn't look very assured. Archer smiled, patting her shoulder. "As soon as you two are done in Sickbay, report to the bridge. You're behind on some work I noticed."

Hoshi smiled. She turned and followed Phlox and Travis. Archer was aware of Trip stepping close.

In a voice that was almost a whisper, Trip told him, "Maybe you oughta follow your own advice, Captain. It coulda been you or me out there and kicking yourself isn't going to make it go away." Trip sat back down to his breakfast.

Archer glanced at him. He walked back to the Captain's mess without comment.

#

Hoshi saved her finished report and opened another. She put the back of her hand over her mouth, stifling her yawn. She glanced back at Archer sitting in the Captain's chair. He was reading something on a PADD. Hoshi looked back at her controls. She heard the lift open and footsteps crossed the bridge.

"The last probe was destroyed trying to exit the gravity pull," T'Pol told Archer as she sat down at her station.

"So how many are left?" Archer looked at her.

"Five of fifteen."

"Not a good percentage, T'Pol."

"No. It is not. However, I was able to get most of the data from the ten that were destroyed. It will prove beneficial."

"Were there _any_ signs of life?"

"There was an abundance of various biologics, but there were no humanoid bio-signs. Whatever came aboard Enterprise does not appear to show as a humanoid life form."

"Well, let's get underway," Archer said. "Travis, put us back on course at warp two."

"Aye, sir."

Archer turned to Trip. "We'll make those repairs when..." Archer trailed off when Trip suddenly jumped over his console and ran over to Travis. He yanked Travis from his chair, roughly waking the man as he tossed him on the floor and took over helm. Archer looked up at the view screen. _Enterprise_ was drifting toward the planet and the engines were still winding up to jump to warp. Trip steered _Enterprise_ back toward space just as the ship jumped to warp two. Trip let out a breath before looking down at Travis. Travis was sitting on the floor, staring at the screen with a shocked look.

"He fell asleep again, sir," Trip told Archer.

"I didn't mean to." Travis got to his feet, turning to Archer. "Sir, I don't know what just happened."

"Ensign Sato is also asleep," T'Pol said.

Archer looked over to Hoshi. She was sound asleep in her chair. Archer looked back at Travis.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Refreshed, sir."

"Do you feel like you want to take the helm again?"

Travis looked at the view screen. "I don't know--" Travis fell asleep, collapsing to the floor.

Trip looked back at Archer. "You sure you want him flying like this?"

"No." Archer tapped this chair's companel. "Archer to Phlox."

"Yes, Captain?"

"Travis just fell asleep twice and nearly sent us into the planet's atmosphere, and Hoshi is sound asleep where she's sitting."

"Captain?" Hoshi asked.

Archer looked at her. She was awake again, staring at him.

"What?" Archer asked her.

Hoshi looked at Trip and then down at Travis and back at Archer. "What happened to Travis, sir?"

"You both fell asleep."

"Perhaps it would be best if they both had the rest of the day off, Captain. From the sounds of things, Travis isn't fit to fly at the moment."

"I agree. Hoshi, return to your quarters."

"But I--"

"That's an order, Ensign."

Hoshi got up and left the bridge. Archer walked over to Travis and crouched down, shaking him awake.

"Go to your quarters, Travis."

Travis left without argument. Archer turned around to Trip.

"Call Ensign Carter to the bridge to take helm."

Trip nodded and tapped the companel to call Ensign Carter to the bridge. Archer sat back down, watching the view screen.

T'Pol turned to a monitor behind her at the sound of a soft beep. She rolled her chair over to the monitor, tapping the control as she watched the screen. Her brow furrowed. She moved closer, working on the information on the screen.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Archer opened his eyes when his companel beeped. He reached up and tapped it.

"Archer," he growled against his pillow.

"You're needed in Sickbay, Captain," Phlox said. "There's been a major development in Hoshi and Travis' condition."

"I'm on my way," Archer said as he threw the covers back.

#

Hoshi was lying on her side, staring at her arm as she sobbed. There was a bump where a spike like the alien's lay waiting for her to push it out. Hoshi gulped in air to fuel her sobbing. She heard the doors of Sickbays open and Phlox spoke with someone. Hoshi closed her eyes, hugging her other arm tight around her abdomen. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. Archer smiled, gently rubbing her arm.

"Hey," he said.

"I suck!" Hoshi whimpered.

"What?"

"Travis has this too." Hoshi looked back at her arm. "Why did you send me alone to get readings of the nebula, sir? I didn't know what I was doing. I told you I didn't know what I was doing. I should be demoted. I can't command anything and I got us shot down and found aliens that weren't there and--"

"Hoshi," Archer said in a gentle but firm voice.

Hoshi looked up at him, crying harder. "I suck," she whimpered.

Archer smiled. He turned and pulled a stool up to the biobed, sitting down. Archer laid an arm across the top of the biobed and leaned close so he could look her in the eye.

"You do not suck, Hoshi. And this could have happened to me or Trip or T'Pol."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Well don't, because it could have."

"But it didn't. It happened to _me_. I almost got us killed."

"It wasn't because of you, Hoshi. Stop this. You aren't responsible for anything that's happened to you or Travis."

Archer rested his hand on Hoshi's head. Hoshi looked up at him. Archer smiled, taking her hand with his other hand.

"You have more experience and knowledge than you think you do, Hoshi. I never would have sent you two alone if I didn't think you didn't."

"I tricked you."

Archer chuckled. "Tricked me huh?"

Hoshi nodded. Her eyes drooped closed. Archer looked up when Phlox walked up, holding a scanner over her head. He looked at Archer, motioning him to follow. Archer stood and pulled his hand from Hoshi's. She tightened her hand on his, looking up at him.

"What's happening to me?" Hoshi asked.

"I don't know. Phlox is trying to figure that out, Hoshi."

"I'm scared."

Archer squeezed her hand. "Don't be. You have the best doctor in Starfleet working on it."

Hoshi smiled a little. She let Archer's hand go, her eyes closing again. Archer walked over to where Phlox was waiting for him. Archer glanced at Travis, who was staring at the ceiling and looked like he was coping with this much better than Hoshi.

"What's happening?" Archer asked.

"I was looking for toxins, or drugs, or something in their blood," Phlox pulled up an image of two brains on a monitor and pointed at them. "I was not looking for a change in brain functions." Phlox turned to Archer. "The aliens injected something into them but it moved into the brain and has been undetectable there. There are nanoprobes throughout their body, but in small, concentrations. They look no different than platelets under the microscope and the body accepts them as such. Apparently the aliens have iron-based blood too. They are constructing biological implements in their body."

"What's with them falling asleep?"

"I'm suspecting that the change in brain function that these nanoprobes have made has caused narcolepsy in both of them." Phlox turned to Archer. "We need to return to the planet, Captain, and try to establish communication with the aliens. I need to know what they've done and if it can be reversed."

"No," Archer said.

"Capt--"

"They already attacked Hoshi and Travis, Doctor. I'm not going to take a chance they're going to attack more of my crew. And we couldn't understand them the first time, returning won't change that."

"T'Pol mentioned that she found something resembling a communication in her scans."

"She and Ensign Shipper haven't been able to determine that."

"You need Ensign Sato to help."

"I don't want her on the bridge in her condition."

Phlox looked at his two patients. "Captain, we really need to talk to the aliens."

"We aren't going back. Do everything you can and keep me posted." Archer left Sickbay.

Phlox turned around and sat down on a stool, working on the case at hand.

#

Archer looked up when his ready room doorbell beeped.

"Come in."

T'Pol walked in, holding a PADD in her hand.

"Shipper and I were able to identify a mathematic formula in the communication signal, but we need Ensign Sato to help us decode the rest of the communication, Captain."

"She's in Sickbay, T'Pol. You and Shipper are going to have to figure it out without her." Archer turned back to his work.

T'Pol walked up to Archer. He looked up at her.

"I heard you tell Ensign Sato that this event was not her fault."

"It wasn't her fault."

"Nor was it yours."

"I shouldn't have sent them alone, T'Pol. Neither of them had ever been on an away mission without a senior officer."

"And how are they going to learn how to cope with situations like this if they are always with a senior officer? On several occasions you've told me that humans learn from their mistakes."

"T'Pol, are you _trying_ to piss me off today?"

T'Pol's eyebrow lifted. The way she pulled her hands behind her back and lifted her chin, he knew he was about to be lectured.

"Captain, I agree with you that Ensign Sato did nothing wrong and she made appropriate judgment calls considering the situation and circumstances. As her captain, you have done well at consoling her and reassuring her of that. On the other hand, how can you assure her that she is capable of maintaining her rank and carrying out her responsibilities when you yourself are having the same doubts? As for this communication, we _need_ Ensign Sato to help us with the communication recording."

Archer stared at T'Pol, thinking about how he wanted to handle this. He looked down at his monitor.

"You're right, T'Pol, I can't help her overcome her fear if I have the same fear and I'm don't get over it myself. But I'm not letting Hoshi help you. She is ill and she needs to rest. You're going to have to figure out what you've found using Ensign Shipper."

"Captain--"

Archer stood, leaning into her face. "T'Pol, Hoshi is sick! I know you need her help, but you're going to do it without her. That _will_ be all."

T'Pol stared into his eyes. She leaned to the side, setting the PADD down on Archer's desk.

"If your decision changes, give this to Ensign Sato." T'Pol turned and walked out of Archer's ready room.

Archer turned, leaning on the edge of the port window.

#

Hoshi looked across the barren land bathed in a variety of colors. The colors seemed to hang in the air and surround her. She heard singing all around her. It was loud, but it wasn't painfully so. She felt urgency in the singing but she was too scared to respond to it.

#

Hoshi jerked awake, panting lightly.

"What did you dream of?" Travis asked.

Hoshi turned her head. Travis was staring at the ceiling.

"That place again. And the singing."

"It's like I want to find the singing because it's telling me to."

"Yeah. Me too."

Travis turned his head to look at her. "What do you think the dreams mean?"

Hoshi shrugged. "I wish I knew."

Travis lifted his arm up, running his finger down the ridge the spike under his skin made.

"What are we becoming?"

"One of them, probably."

Travis turned his head when he heard Hoshi sniffle. She had her eyes closed tight and was trying to hold back her tears. Travis stretched his hand out to her.

"Hoshi," Travis said.

Hoshi looked at him and smiled, reaching her hand out to him. Just as their hands met the spikes shot out from the sheaths. They moved like snakes, lacing around each other and binding Hoshi and Travis' wrists together. Pain shot up their arms and they tried to pull away, but the spikes were much stronger.

"PHLOX!" Travis screamed.

Phlox ran around a curtain. He glanced at the spikes, watching them still binding the two's wrists as he ran over to a surgical tray. He stepped between the beds, holding the scanner over the spike. He lowered the scanner toward the spike and hit a force field. Phlox looked up when both monitors beeped warnings. The heart monitors on both were flat line. Phlox looked at Travis and then Hoshi. They appeared unconscious. Phlox held the scanner over Hoshi. It was showing her vitals were normal with a slightly elevated heart rate that was slowing down. He checked Travis and found the vitals were the same. Phlox grabbed Travis' shoulder and shook him.

"Ensign."

Travis stirred a little. Phlox shook him harder.

"Ensign, wake--"

A bolt of energy from the force field around the spikes leapt out, struck Phlox in the chest, and sent him flying across Sickbay. Phlox hit the floor, sliding to a stop by the doors he stopped at Archer's feet as he walked in.

"Doc?" Archer helped Phlox to his feet.

Phlox very slowly and stiffly got to his feet. "I'm alright. It was a low energy charge."

"What was?" Archer looked toward Travis and Hoshi. "What's the alarm for?"

Phlox walked back toward the two. He ran into the same force field a few centimeters from the biobed. He backed up, laying his hand on it and then scanning it. Archer walked up next to him, reaching out and laying a hand on the force field. Unlike other energy fields he'd encountered, this one didn't emit an electric charge, but remained solid and forcing him to keep his distance from his crewmen. Phlox shut off the monitors, silencing the warning alarms.

"What's happening to them?" Archer asked, looking at their wrists.

Phlox sighed. "I wish I knew."

Archer kept his hand on the force field, following around to where it ran into the wall behind Travis' bed. Archer turned away, looking as frustrated as he felt.

"Captain," Phlox said.

Archer turned. The spikes were releasing the two's wrists and retracted back into their arms. Archer stepped forward, running into the force field. He put his hand on it.

"Why isn't this force field going down? Doctor, call Trip and Malcolm."

Phlox walked over to a companel and tapped it. "Phlox to Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed."

Archer stepped back, watching Travis and Hoshi sit up in unison, step of the biobed and start toward the door. Both appeared to be sleepwalking.

"Phlox lock the door!"

Phlox looked up. He turned and ran to the door, locking it.

"Trip, here," Trip said.

Archer tapped a companel near him. "We need you and Malcolm in the Sickbay immediately, Trip. Bring weapons."

"On our way."

Hoshi and Travis stopped at the door. Hoshi reached out and touched the control, but the locked doors stayed locked. Travis moved his hand over her other hand and an energy in the form of light appeared.

"Doc?" Archer said.

Phlox grabbed a scanner, moving as close as he could. He looked at Archer.

"The nanoprobes in her system are emitting a signal to override the lock. This isn't going to--"

The doors slid open and the two walked out. Archer and Phlox followed them. They appeared to be in no hurry. They turned the corner of the third junction. Trip and Malcolm were running toward them. Both men stopped and aimed phasers at the two.

"Stun only," Archer ordered.

The two checked the settings and shot. Hoshi and Travis stopped walking, but appeared unaffected by the shot.

"Now what?" Trip asked.

The spike from their wrists slid out of their sheath and linked. Trip and Malcolm suddenly went flying down the hall. At the last moment, right before they hit the wall, they stopped and fell into a pile on the floor. Both started to get up and were thrown back to the floor again by an invisible force. The two turned into the first junction and Trip and Malcolm were released. They tried to pick up their weapons and found them fused to the floor. They looked at one another and then ran after the group.

Travis and Hoshi stopped at the lift and the doors opened. They stepped on and the doors closed before Archer, Phlox, Trip, or Malcolm could step on with them.

"The other lift. Hurry," Archer said.

The four turned and ran to the second lift.

#

The lift doors opened on the bridge and T'Pol turned in the captain's chair, watching Hoshi and Travis walk past her. She tapped the companel on the chair arm as she stood.

"Bridge to Archer."

"Go ahead."

"Ensign Sato and Ensign Mayweather just came onto the bridge."

"What are they doing?"

Travis and Hoshi stopped and the spikes unlinked and retracted. The two walked over to their stations and a force drug the officers in the chairs out and gently dropped them onto the floor. They sat down in their chairs and held their hands up over the controls. A light appeared under their hands and the controls began functioning on their own.

"I wish I knew."

_Enterprise_ slowed out of warp. Archer, Phlox, Malcolm, and Trip ran through the situation room door onto the bridge. _Enterprise_ came to a halt. Archer walked toward Travis and ran into the force field again.

"Travis," Archer said.

There was no response. _Enterprise_ turned about and jumped to warp.

"Where are we headed?" Archer turned to T'Pol.

T'Pol walked over to her station. "We've reversed course."

"Trip, stop the ship."

Trip walked over to engineering. He frowned and tapped the companel.

"Tucker to Engineering."

"Go ahead, sir."

"Billy, manually shut down the warp drive."

"Aye, sir."

There was a moment of silence and then the crewman was back. "Sir, there's some kind of force field around the engine and any other place that we could manually shut her down. What the hell is going on, sir?"

Trip looked at Archer. "I'll get back to you on that. Stand by." Trip tapped the companel. "Now what?"

"Have they charted any coordinates?" Archer asked T'Pol.

"No. There is no apparent destination."

Archer looked at the view screen. "Where are you two taking us?" Archer asked quietly.

There was no answer to his question.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Archer rubbed his eyes and then looked up at the view screen. He and T'Pol were the only two on the bridge; both unwilling to leave the bridge while Travis and Hoshi were in control of _Enterprise_. Travis and Hoshi hadn't moved from their seats nor had they set any destination coordinates. Archer laid his head against the Captain's chair, staring at the ceiling. His mind wondered over the course of events, trying desperately to ferret out a reason for this. Archer's brow furrowed when a thought occurred to him.

"T'Pol."

"Yes, Captain?"

"What have you and Shipper found out about that communication recording?"

"Not very much. Again, we do not have the language skills that Ensign Sato has."

Archer sat up, resting his elbows on his knees. He looked over at Hoshi.

"Play the communication recording sequence."

"Captain?"

"Play it."

T'Pol turned around and started the communication recording. Archer looked over at Hoshi. The communication recording stopped.

"Play it on a loop."

"What are you hoping this will accomplish, sir?"

"I don't know. Humor me."

"This will become annoying after a few minutes."

"T'Pol."

She played the communication recording on a loop. Suddenly it stopped. Archer looked at her.

"I did not stop it." T'Pol looked down at her controls. "Ensign Sato did."

Archer walked over to Hoshi, walking around in front of her. She looked like she was still asleep.

"Hoshi, I know you can hear us or you wouldn't have turned off the communication. Where is Travis taking us and why are you protecting the communications station?"

Hoshi didn't respond.

"Ensign, respond."

The communication recording started playing. Archer leaned on the railing.

"Captain," T'Pol said.

Archer looked at her. Her head was tilted slightly.

"What is it?"

"This isn't the communication I recorded. This is different. The tempo is varied slightly."

Archer looked up at Hoshi. "Hoshi?"

She didn't respond.

"Hoshi..."

Archer looked down, leaning on the railing. He looked up when _Enterprise_ dropped out of warp and glided to a stop. He looked up at Hoshi. Her head had drooped to her chest. He turned and found Travis the same way.

"T'Pol, can you tell what's happening to them?"

T'Pol ran a scan. "It appears they are in REM sleep. They apparently needed rest," T'Pol said.

Archer frowned, looking at the two. He sat back down in his chair, waiting to see what was going to happen next. Archer rested his cheek on his fist and his mind began wandering on it's own, occupying his conscience as he drifted to sleep.

#

"Captain," a voice said.

Archer looked up from the gift he was wrapping. He was sitting in the middle of a room in a house he'd never seen. Outside one window was bright daylight; outside the window next to it was pitch-black night without a star in sight. Through the next window he could see the strange land of the alien planet bathed in the complete spectrum of colors like heat waves radiating off the desert sand.

"Captain, can you hear me?" the voice asked.

Archer closed his eyes, turning his head.

"Captain Archer."

He felt his balance shift and then it felt like he was falling through a vast expanse. Archer awoke, startled. Trip and Malcolm were back on the bridge and looked up at him. Archer quickly collected himself, looking up at the view screen. They were again traveling at warp and Hoshi and Travis had not moved.

"Have--" Archer started but his voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Have they set coordinates yet?"

"No, Captain," T'Pol replied.

"Have we deviated from the reverse course?"

"No, Captain."

Archer sat up in his chair, trying to overcome the drowsiness.

"I could man the bridge if you would like to refresh yourself, Captain," T'Pol offered.

"Not while they have control of my ship."

To his surprise, T'Pol didn't argue. The hours began to pass silently and Archer struggled to stay awake. He had just dozed off again when _Enterprise_ came out of warp.

"Oh my God," Trip said.

Archer opened his eyes. _Enterprise_ was slowing to a stop as the alien planet came into view. The ship was brought into geosynchronous orbit and the engines wound down.

"Why'd they bring us back here?" Trip asked.

Archer rose to his feet, staring at the view screen. The bridge COM came to life with singing. T'Pol lifted her hands away from her controls when the monitors and controls came to life on their own. One word at a time the singing began to translate into language.

The repeated phrase finally became clear, and it sounded like hundreds of voices saying the same thing: "Calling occupants of extraterrestrial craft. We seek to communicate and exchange knowledge. We knew no other way to reach you. We wish to send two to reverse the changes made in your two species and awaken them. We seek your word you will not harm us if we do so."

Archer slowly walked around to stand between the helm and the communications station. He didn't even notice that the bridge was dead silent.

"You have my word," Archer said.

Two aliens 'shimmered' on board next to Hoshi and Travis. They again struck them with the spikes in their wrists and shimmered away. The two slumped over their controls. Archer walked over to Hoshi, expecting to find the force field. He reached out and laid his hand on her shoulder. She stirred, opening her eyes. She looked up at Archer.

"Did I fall asleep at the controls again?"

Archer smiled, shaking his head. "Not quite."

"Why are we back here?" Travis asked.

Archer looked back at him.

"We seek to exchange knowledge. Will you allow us to come back?" the voices asked.

Hoshi looked down at her controls. "Are... Is the computer translating their language?"

"You may come back," Archer agreed. "We have a lot of questions for you."

"And we have questions for you."

Five of the aliens shimmered onto the bridge. One held a square that was wrapped just like the one Archer had been wrapping in his dream. It offered it to Archer. Archer took the box from the alien. It held up its hand, flicked its hands at the wrist and dropped its hands to its side.

"We do not like to speak with aliens that pass here. You are the first in many generations that have intrigued us. We would like to know more of you and share our knowledge with you," the alien said. "We present this gift as a token of peace and prosperity between our races."

"Thank you."

There was a silence.

"It offends you?" the alien asked.

"Normally we wait to open gifts until afterwards."

"We open them when they are given."

Archer decided to obey their custom and unwrapped the present. Inside he found a sculpture made from crystal. It was the first images the aliens must have seen of him and his crew when he and Trip had gone down to retrieve Hoshi and Travis. They were standing in front of the shuttle pod, looking back at the damaged shuttle pod or the tents and Hoshi was pointing. The likeness of the people, despite its size, was amazing. Archer looked back at the aliens.

"Thank you."

"We would like to see more of your species and ship. We would like to find a means to give you our knowledge. We would like to sample your food. We would like to learn your customs."

"I want to know what you did to my two crewmen and why you did it."

"We injected them with nanoprobes of an organic nature. We all have them in us and they create the links." The alien held out its wrist and the spike slid out a little. "They repair our bodies to prolong our lives. We injected some of the nanoprobes into your crewmen so they could communicate, but you left before the nanoprobes could complete the necessary changes to their bodies. Upon removing the nanoprobes, we discovered from them that they had inadvertently caused a condition in your crewmen. For that we apologize. We injected nanoprobes to kill the ones that made the changes, and reverse all changes. They will be unharmed during this process."

"Why did you hide when we came to get these two?" Archer motioned at Hoshi and Travis.

"Many aliens that have made it to the surface have been hostile. Very few have come that have been benign. Her kind was one that was benign when it came many generations ago." They all pointed at T'Pol.

"Vulcans have been here?"

"They were. They were benign. Their ship was lost when it tried to leave, unable to gain enough escape velocity to leave the surface safely. We mourned for them, but their ship left before we could return the injured to them. The Vulcan's lived for many years among us before the nanoprobes were unable to prolong their lives. They left these behind."

A box of old PADDs shimmered onto the bridge beside him. T'Pol got up and walked over to the box, kneeling beside it. She pulled out a PADD and turned it on.

"What is it?"

"Nearly three hundred years of observation of this race," T'Pol looked up at Archer. "It will take me several years to go through this information, Captain."

"I guess you just developed a hobby, T'Pol." Archer looked back at the aliens. "I'll show you around the ship, but you have to understand that your actions make me a little leery of you."

One stepped forward, holding its hands up, palms facing away from archer. "We learned many expressions from the nanoprobes that we took from your crewmen. An ounce of patience. Do you know what this means?"

"Be patient."

"We needed but an ounce of patience the first time. We ask only that this time."

Archer smiled. "I'll give you a pound instead. T'Pol, let's show our guests the ship." Archer handed the sculpture off to Trip and the group left the bridge. Trip watched them go and then looked down at Travis and Hoshi.

"Why don't you two take the rest of the day off? You look a bit bewildered."

The two left without argument.

Trip looked at the statue in his hand, shaking his head.

#

Archer stared at the sculpture, turning his head so that the overhead lights of his ready room refracted in the cuts and he could see shards of rainbow inside it.

"Come in," he said when his ready room doorbell beeped.

T'Pol walked in and stopped at his desk, pulling her hands behind her back. She looked down at the sculpture.

"Quartermaster Benson said that this sculpture was made from a diamond roughly fifty centimeters cubed," Archer told T'Pol.

"She told me. To create a sculpture of such detail in diamond takes extraordinary talent. The fact that they quarried a diamond so large is equally amazing."

"The Gawsumi are an amazing race all around, T'Pol."

"They were extremely interesting. I would have liked to spend more time with the scientists that came aboard the last two days."

"Everyone wanted to spend more time with the Gawsumi that came aboard, even Hoshi and Travis." Archer smiled up at her.

"I'm pleased that you decided to forgive them for their transgression against your crewmen. We would have missed a great opportunity if you had not."

Archer sat back in his chair, looking out at space speeding by at warp three. "An ounce of patience. If I'd listened to Hoshi, T'Pol, and believed her when she said there were aliens on the surface, we would have met them sooner." Archer looked up at T'Pol.

"Regardless of what _could_ have been, Captain, the end result of this turned out well."

"Yes it did, didn't it?" Archer smiled, looking out at space. "There's a nebula coming up. It's about two hundred kilometers wide. I think I'll send Hoshi with a science team and Travis to one end, and you and Trip with another team to the other end." Archer looked up at T'Pol. "What do you think?"

"I believe those are appropriate arrangements. Should I assign crewmen to teams?"

"Tell Hoshi she can pick her team if she wants to."

"Yes, Captain."

T'Pol turned and left. Archer turned back to the statue, again admiring the detail and craftsmanship of the piece.


End file.
